Poker Articles

Walter "Puggy" Pearson 1929-2006
By Justin West

Walter "Puggy" Pearson, legendary gambler, poker player, and hustler, passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 77 years old.

Born January 29, 1929, in Adairville, KY, Puggy grew up in Tennessee with his parents and eight siblings. "We were so poor," he is quoted as saying, "We had to move every time the rent came due. I didn't know what shoes were until I left home "

He gained his nickname after trying to impress a girl at a church function by walking on his hands. Puggy missed a board, fell directly onto his nose, flattening it. The name "Puggy" would follow him for the rest of his life.

Puggy dropped out of school at the age of 11 and started working to help his family make ends meet.. He joined the Navy at 17, earned an education in poker and pool while touring the world as a frogman. While in the service he came to realize that his career of choice would be gambling, and after his discharge Puggy circled the country, playing in back rooms or anywhere the action found him.

Famous for his quote, "I'll play any man, from any land, any game that he can name for any amount that I can count... providing I like it," his penchant for gambling is the stuff of legend. Puggy played tennis, pool, backgammon - any game in which he could turn a profit. Realizing that the game of golf could be a window to even more action, Puggy buckled down and learned the game, practicing with fervor and becoming an accomplished scratch player.

In an article featured on PokerPages.com, Mike Sexton, spokesman for the World Poker Tour and a friend of Puggy's, recalled an experience he shared on the links with the gambler:

Puggy's golf stories are legendary. Once, a few years back, I was playing with Puggy, Tommy Fischer, and a professional player from the PGA Senior Tour. Puggy was getting four shots a side from the pro. Puggy hit only three greens in regulation that day but virtually got the ball up and down on every hole and shot a 75. He beat the pro for $7000. While writing out his check to Puggy in the snack bar after the round, the pro said, "Puggy, I've played golf with the greatest players in the world for 40 years and I promise you that none of them, including Nicklaus, Player, or anyone else, could ever chip and putt like you do." Puggy reached across the table, picked up the check, wiggled that cigar of his, broke into a wide grin and said, "You should have seen me ten years ago."

Puggy is credited with developing the freeze-out method of tournament play wherein all contenders start with the same amount of chips and battle it out until one player has them all. Horseshoe owner Benny Binion instituted this model for the World Series of Poker in its second year of existence (1971), and it has remained a standard for tournament play ever since.

Always the character, Puggy was a fixture at the WSOP and other major events in the 1970s and 1980s, often making his appearance in outrageous garb: a viking, a cowboy complete with six shooters, even a Native American. His antics aside, he was one of the most aggressive players of his time.

Although Puggy was present for the WSOP back in 1970 and 1971, he wouldn't take the championship bracelet until 1973, the first year the tournament was recorded for broadcast. In those days the tournament was winner-take-all, and Puggy took home $130,000 along with his first place finish.

With a total of four WSOP bracelets under his belt, Puggy was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987, two years before his last money finish (35th) in the WSOP. His health declining in the later years, Puggy focused more on the fast-paced cash games but made a cameo appearance at the 2005 WSOP to a grinning final table. This was the last time many saw him alive, and in that moment he truly shined.

Having won and lost millions over the green felt, Puggy was a true pioneer. He was one of the golden generation that includes Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Amarillo "Slim" Preston, a generation of seasoned veterans that shaped and molded the game of poker as we know it. Survived by his son, daughter, and three siblings, Puggy Pearson's flair and relentless clout will be sorely missed by all.

Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.